1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Kimchi refrigerator, and more particularly, to a Kimchi refrigerator that applies cold shock to Kimchi stored therein at predetermined time intervals, while a keeping mode is performed, so as to improve the taste of the Kimchi, wherein the time intervals are changed, and a control method of the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Not only Kimchi but also other kinds of food are stored in an ordinary refrigerator. For this reason, a door of the refrigerator is frequently opened and closed with the result that the interior temperature of the refrigerator is greatly changed. In addition, when a user takes the Kimchi out of the refrigerator so as to put the Kimchi in a vessel, the Kimchi is brought into contact with external air. As a result, the taste of the Kimchi is greatly changed, and therefore, it is very difficult to maintain the Kimchi for a long period of time in a state in which the Kimchi provides a taste desired by the user.
Furthermore, the ordinary refrigerator does not have a function to ferment to rapidly ripen the Kimchi such that the taste of the Kimchi is suitable to user's taste.
A Kimchi refrigerator has been developed to solve the problems of the ordinary refrigerator. Specifically, the Kimchi refrigerator is an exclusive refrigerator for Kimchi that is capable of fermenting to ripen the Kimchi according to a user's taste irrespective of external environment, such as seasons, and maintaining the taste of the ripened Kimchi for a long period of time.
A brief description will be given below as to how storage compartments of a Kimchi refrigerator are cooled by a cooling system mounted in the Kimchi refrigerator.
Refrigerant used for the Kimchi refrigerator is compressed into a high temperature and high pressure state by a compressor, and the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant is transmitted to a condenser through a refrigerant pipe. Subsequently, the refrigerant is liquefied by the condenser, and the liquefied refrigerant is transmitted to an expansion valve through a refrigerant pipe. The refrigerant is changed into a low temperature and low pressure state by the expansion valve. The low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant is transmitted to an evaporator, which is mounted such that the evaporator surrounds the outsides of the storage compartments. The refrigerant is evaporated by the evaporator. As a result, the refrigerant instantaneously takes heat away from the periphery of the refrigerant, and therefore, the storage compartments, in which Kimchi is stored, are cooled.
Hereinafter, the storage compartment structure of a conventional Kimchi refrigerator will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
A conventional Kimchi refrigerator 10 includes upper Kimchi storage compartments 21 to store Kimchi and lower Kimchi storage compartments 31 to store Kimchi. The conventional Kimchi refrigerator 10 also includes upper doors 27 to open and close the corresponding upper Kimchi storage compartments 21 in a hingedly rotating fashion, and lower doors 37 to open and close the corresponding lower Kimchi storage compartments 31 in a sliding fashion.
The upper doors 27 are mounted at the top part of a refrigerator body of the Kimchi refrigerator 10 to open and close the corresponding upper Kimchi storage compartments 21, whereas the lower doors 37 are mounted at the front part of the refrigerator body of the Kimchi refrigerator 10 to open and close the corresponding lower Kimchi storage compartments 31. The upper doors 27 are constructed in a structure in which the upper doors 27 are opened and closed in a hingedly rotating fashion, whereas the lower doors 37 are constructed in a structure in which the lower doors 37 are opened and closed in a sliding fashion.
The doors 27 and 37 may be made of the same material as the refrigerator body of the Kimchi refrigerator 10. In addition, the doors 27 and 37 may be filled with a heat insulating material. Gaskets (not shown) are mounted at the edges of the respective upper and lower doors 27 and 37 to seal the Kimchi storage compartments 21 and 31, thereby preventing the inflow and outflow of air between the Kimchi storage compartments 21 and 31 and the outside of the Kimchi refrigerator 10.
Although not shown, on the other hand, an additional machinery compartment is located in the refrigerator body of the Kimchi refrigerator 10. In the machinery compartment are mounted several parts for a cooling system such as a compressor to compress refrigerant flowing through an evaporator while the parts are connected with each other. In addition, various parts such as various kinds of control units and various kinds of sensors, which are necessary to ripen Kimchi and store the Kimchi for a long period of time, are mounted at predetermined positions in the Kimchi refrigerator 10.
At the front part of the refrigerator body of the Kimchi refrigerator 10 is mounted a control panel 40 to control the overall operation of the Kimchi refrigerator.
In the above, the Kimchi refrigerator in which the Kimchi storage compartments are located at the upper and lower parts of the Kimchi refrigerator was described as an example. However, a Kimchi refrigerator in which the upper and lower parts are not divided from each other or a Kimchi refrigerator in which refrigerating compartments to store various kinds of food or freezing compartments to store various kinds of food are integrally coupled with each other may be also used.
Although the Kimchi refrigerator has been developed to maintain the taste of the Kimchi for a long period of time, however, the Kimchi refrigerator still has the following problems.
In the conventional Kimchi refrigerator, after Kimchi is ripened into a desired state by user's inputting of various conditions, such as kinds of the Kimchi, keeping temperature and storage time of the Kimchi, and ripening degree of the Kimchi, the Kimchi is stored merely at a specific keeping temperature.
Even though the Kimchi is stored at the specific keeping temperature, however, the Kimchi is gradually fermented. Especially, the growth of Lactobacillus Plantarum (hereinafter, simply referred to as “Lactobacillus”), which is a bacillus causing acidification of the Kimchi and thus providing a sour taste to the Kimchi, is increased, whereby the taste of the Kimchi is deteriorated.
The above-mentioned problem may shorten a Kimchi storage period in the keeping mode.
Furthermore, in the conventional Kimchi refrigerator, even though the user opens the door of the Kimchi refrigerator, and therefore, the interior temperature of the refrigerator is increased with the result that the quality of the Kimchi is affected, it is not possible to control the interior temperature of the refrigerator so as to maintain the quality of the Kimchi. As a result, the taste of the Kimchi is not maintained for a desired period of time, and therefore, the quality of the Kimchi is deteriorated, or it is very difficult to store the Kimchi for a long period of time.
For example, when the temperature of the Kimchi is increased, the growth of Lactobacillus plantarum is further accelerated, whereby a sour taste of the Kimchi is increased. Consequently, the long-term storage of the Kimchi is very difficult.